In economies that are led by innovation, innovativeness and competitiveness are interdependent. If an enterprise and/or economy is competitive in the market it will likely have a high level of innovation management, harmonized with EU standards. A variety of different methodologies is used to assess the innovation capacities of small and medium sized companies, but IMP?rove methodology is widespread in EU countries. It is a benchmarking process which gives, as the final output, a comprehensive report on how to improve and leverage innovation management for profitable growth, which includes a) identification of the gaps hampering growth and b) the direction in which and how the company should be developed and grown. For the purpose of this paper, IMP?rove methodology was adjusted and simplified to assess the innovation capacity of a single company without benchmarking. The focus of the paper is 22 Serbian companies owned and managed by women, which were included in innovation scanning according to the IMP?rove methodology in 2010. All companies included in the sample employ more than 10 employees. The resulting analysis aims to provide insight into the holistic innovation capacity of the selected companies through four dimensions of the so-called ?House of Innovation?1. They are: innovation strategy, innovation organization and culture, innovation process (life cycle management), and enabling factors supporting the development of the company?s innovation management. This analysis provides an overview of the innovation management platform necessary to enhance small and medium enterprises? (SME) business performance and competitiveness in the EU market. The analysis also presents the results of research on the gender aspects of the institutions and programmes that support innovativeness and competitiveness in SMEs. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 47005: Research and Development of the Platform for Science-Based Management of the Scientific and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia]

This paper studies the relationship between innovativeness and strategic planning in SMEs.In introduction part, the authors attempt to consider relevant findings about this specific relationship in the literature. The paper presents how the EU policy approaches the innovation management system within SMEs and where Serbia stands in catching up the process towards the EU in terms of innovativeness and competitiveness. The main research approach is to examine the relationship between innovativeness and strategic orientation, beginning with the existence of the four key strategic business documents: strategic, marketing, business plan and procedures, and innovation strategy documents. The last part is a discussion on the findings and considerations of the intensity of the relations among strategic orientations of the company expressed through the key strategic documents and innovativeness, and the relations among the three most practiced types of innovation in representative sample of 150 Serbian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).The research has shown that there is positive correlation between strategic planning approach in marketing and firm's innovativeness but the intensity of the relationship depends on the type of the innovativeness considered.

improve the business performance of a group of businesses that are considered to have limited access to markets and sources of funding, such as women-owned businesses.

The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of investment in research and development on economic growth in the Republic of Serbia, expressed through the correlation of this and other macroeconomic aggregates. A variety of statistical and econometric techniques of variables and time series analysis are employed. In order to quantify the contribution of investments in research and development to the GDP real growth, initially data series at current prices are converted in real terms, applying previously calculated composite deflator for research and development. Based on these data, estimated for the period 1995-2015, the contribution of R&D investments to the GDP real growth is explicitly shown and expressed in percentage points. Also, the latest available data since 2016. up to 2018. have been presented in order to show the trend in this area. The empirical results achieved in the study reveal a strong interdependence among the R&D expenditures and economic performance at the national level in Serbia. Based on these findings, a statistically significant causality relationship

Digital technologies that create innovation have the capacity to leverage economic development. The integration of digital technologies in daily operations has become a key success factor in sustainable development, market positioning, and advancement. This is particulary challenging for female companies in developing countries, which face numerous biases on their entrepreneurial path, including in innovation. This specific group of entrepreneurs faces additional barriers in implementing digital technologies and digital transformation, which are considered part of their innovation capacity. However, some companies perform well according to financial parameters, regardless of the level of digitization and innovation potential. This research paper explores the correlation between financial performance and the innovative implementation of digital technologies. The main assumption in this research is that companies that do not use digital technologies to innovate can not expect to improve their financial performance. We focus on the impact of digital technology on the financial performance of female companies. We also consider the indirect impact of digital technology use on financial performance, with product innovation as the mediator variable. The sample consists of 46 female companies. The results of the analysis confirm the hypotheses that digital technology has no direct influence on financial performance, and that product innovation mediates the relationship between digital technology and financial performance.